Take Me As I am, Hire Me, or Leave Me 25

Friendships


First off, I would like to congratulate my counterpart, Small Town, Big City on your new job.  I wish nothing but the best for you! Go kick some butt, you have a lot of offer this field!

Over the past few days I've been trying to keep a smile on my face, hold back my tears and just live in the moment. In two weeks my classmates and I will FINALLY  graduate (Yes, this is a VERY LATE graduation!) Over the past two years, I've become close to three amazing men. Two of which I work with, the other is my work hubby. I know that I will see them at upcoming  conferences, visit them during my vacation time, text them everyday, skype them weekly and call them whenever I need to, but, I won't get to see them everyday. Our friendship is amazing. I couldn't have asked for better friends.

Until one of us leaves  I will cherish every moment I have with them.  I will stay out a little later, laugh a little harder, take more pictures and live in the moment.

Nothing is worth more than this day. 
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Small Town, Big (City) Dreams #23

Hired and Some Wisdom for the Future

Its official!  I accepted my job offer two days ago.  I am very excited to begin working on July 9^th!  There was not much negotiation that I needed to do because I was satisfied with salary, start date, and responsibilities.  So all in all, the job search process was relatively smooth despite periods of uncertainty.

Now, I believe over half of my cohort is employed.  Many individuals are in the on-campus stage, while some are continuing to apply to new postings.  For many, this month is one of transition—moving home or to a new city/state to begin working, saying goodbye to assistantship providers, colleagues, and friends, and trying to negotiate our existence with the cohort and a familiarity that we once took for granted.

For those that are still looking: you are amazing and will find a position and institution that is perfect for you.  Believe in the power of the second wave—good things will happen.  If not, hey, this is the first of many job searches and something wonderful will come along soon. 

Take Me As I am, Hire Me, or Leave Me 24

It's Time to Relax!

Last week at this time, I was completing the final step of my graduate degree,  I was taking my comps.

I tried climbing into my bed at 9:30pm but visions of theories, laws, human needs model, current issues, and Schwarz facilitation model was running through my head. It was well after 12:30 when I finally  said to myself , " YOU ARE READY TO TAKE THIS TEST, NOW GO TO SLEEP." 

I woke up at 6:15 to make sure I gave myself plenty of time to eat, enjoy a cup of coffee and look over my notes one last time. Mix emotions were running through my body, I was more excited than nervous. As I walked over to the testing center I saw my mentor on her way to work. She stopped,  gave me a big hug, looked me in the eyes and said " I believe in you, you are going to kick some butt." I appreciate her last minute supportive words as I entered the classroom. I arrived at 7:45am for a 8 am start. Because I have special accommodations I had a room to myself with my own computer as well as 2 extra hours. I entered the room and nothing was set up. REALLY?!?! I thought to myself. I hoped this would go smoothly. I've learned that in the field of Student Affairs we must roll with the punches, and I sat their as calmly as I could until the computer guy to set me up.  Finally, 45 minutes later ( a half hour late) I was ready to begin.

Our comps are broken up into two parts; part 1 ( the morning) is our conflict resolution classes and part two  ( the afternoon) is our student affairs classes. The program provides a case study that we use for the entire day. Each part has 5 questions, we choose two. The case study this year was about protesting and the pepper spray innocent that happened at UC Davis. I am happy with the case study and the questions they asked. I think I did rather well, but won't get my results for 4-6 weeks.

I am happy the test is behind me and I can finally relax! 

Small Town, Big (City) Dreams #22

Almost Employed...!?

On Tuesday I received a phone call my from my recent on campus stating that they are checking references on me… since I was their top candidate!  The director of the office stated that he would need to wait for paperwork to go through HR to have further discussions with me sometime today or Tuesday.  I am very excited, because I am 99% sure I will accept the position once I am officially offered! It is a great feeing when you can begin to picture your new life and be really proud of what it will be.

For those of you who are still searching, I would keep in mind the HR process in your interview experience. Luckily, my institution has been very transparent with the timeline, but this is not always the case. 

I will update you all on the negotiation process!

Take Me As I am, Hire Me, or Leave Me 23

 A Little Test Called Comps

42+ hours of studying + gallons of coffee+ 8 hours of test taking =  a very brain dead, sleep deprived, yet, proud woman:)

I started off my day off  by receiving a good luck prayer from my soon to be boss, followed by a text from my soon to be co-worker. I love when I have moments like this, where I'm reminded that I made the best decision in the world to work for this university. They have been nothing but supportive, cheering me on for the past two weeks! I am blessed.

Once I read all the tweets, texts and Facebook messages from all my family, friends and mentors I was ready to tackle that test. Our day was broken down into two parts. The morning focused on our conflict resolution classes, while the afternoon focused on Student Affairs with only an hour break. By lunch I was tired, hungry and brain dead. But after spending sometime with my fellow classmates  to life up my spirits and energy eat I was ready to finish strong. By 5pm I had completed the test. What a long day.  As soon as I walked out of the room I started to cry tears of joy. This four year journey has come to an end. There were so  many bumps, twists and turns that I had to overcome to get to this point, but there was just as many moments of laughter, love and growth.

To my support system, Thank you for cheering me on, believing when I didn't believe in myself.
To the people who told me NO, you won't make it, your not worthy.. I thank you the most for lighting a fire under my butt & for the motivation to keep going.

I am excited to be done, now it's time to wait for graduation and countdown until I start my new job!
Everything is falling into place and I can't be more grateful.

Small Town, Big (City) Dreams #21

On-Campus Jitters

As I sit in the airport to board my last flight before my first on-campus interview, my stomach is churning with excitement. Last night, I put the final touches on my presentation, and tonight I plan on ensuring that it is under 20 minutes! I think it turned out very well...yet it was hard to finish because of graduation weekend and the craziness of my family visiting and saying goodbye to friends. It felt like another class presentation...but with much more at stake. I'm very proud of it; it clearly demonstrated the theory to practice I learned over the past two years!!

Yesterday, I was reviewing the employer's conditions of employment and was a little taken aback. The institution does not allow overnight guests when school is in session! Wow! Since I will be moving far away from family and friends, I would probably be having visitors during my off days. If I wasn't able to do this...I'm not sure how I would survive! As I was speaking with my current supervisor, she recommended that I ask, "can you help me understand the context of this policy?". I plan on asking the director, with whom I have already established good rapport, at the end of the day.

Take Me As I am, Hire Me, or Leave Me 22

Late Friday afternoon I was sitting in my boss's office, with a look of concern on my face.  Just a few hours ago I was bouncing around the office with excitement, now I'm sitting in front of her almost in tears. "What's wrong" she asked me?

"I'm scared to tell my parents the good news." She looked at me confused. 

I tried to explain to her that all my life my parents have found a way to say negative things to me even if they didn't realize it.  For example, two weeks ago I was having lunch with my parents and we were talking about my graduation dinner, my father says, "didn't we just celebrate your high school and college graduation a few years ago? Why do we have to do it again?" (1.Ouch, that was a low blow, how could they not be excited that their little girl is getting a maters degree? 2. my HS graduation was almost 10 years ago and my college graduation was  5 years ago.)

My boss assured me my parents will be thrilled with the exiting news and that tonight was about me not them.

I hate to admit this, but she was right. ( SHH don't tell her I said that.)  After the wine was poured at dinner,  I lifted up my glass and said " cheers to my new job" My parents let out cries of excitement as the whole restaurant looked at us. Not only was it a good moment, it was a good dinner. Not once did they say anything negative. Finally, they shared this moment with me by celebrating my success and not once did they make it about them. It was an amazing feeling.

I had another great feeling this week. On Wednesday, my mentor was finally able to call me. She had been away on business for the weekend and even though we spoke over text, it didn't feel "official" until I heard her voice. She was SOOO excited, which made me feel awesome. She couldn't stop telling me how proud she was. " I know how hard you worked for this moment, you did this, you know? she said to me . " I couldn't have done it without your help." I said " NO, you DID this yourself, I just cheered you on" she said. She has a way of reminding me  I need to OWN my accomplishments. From that moment on I was owning this accomplishment. 

Later in the day I sent her a text about how I am lucky to have her as a mentor in my life  and how good it feels to have someone cheering you on and celebrating with you along the way. She responded: " I am lucky to be a part of your journey. You have worked hard for this and I am so proud of you and especially glad to know that YOU are proud of YOU!" I took a moment to think about what she said. Of course I am proud of myself but I have always brushed my success under the rug.  In my mind it has always been an expectation that  I graduate from High school and College. Why should I celebrate if I am expected to do so. But now I realize the reason why I haven't been satisfied with my success is because I never gave the credit to myself. Did you see easier how I gave my mentor credit. Yes, she cheered me along the way, gave me a few pointers but I did all the work and that is what she is excited for. She finally sees that I am proud of myself and so am I :)

Small Town, Big (City) Dreams #20

Presentation Time

I am now completely done with graduate school.

And yet, I am completely overwhelmed with my assistantship. This is the busiest time of year, helping over 200 college women move out in a little under 48 hours.  Not to mention it is almost 90 degrees!  As I am sitting at our checkout table, I continue to work on my presentation for my on-campus interview less than a week from today.

I’m a great ideas person.  When it comes to enacting those ideas in a way that others would understand…I kind of falter.  I think it is because I am so incredibly excited about what I usually present on that I make a lot of assumptions as far as what the audience already knows.

The prompt stated “20 minutes professional development topic of your choosing”.  Originally, I thought the topic would be incredibly easy, but after some time I realize that it is challenging to demonstrate 1. My intellectual curiosity and successes; 2. My intellectual curiosity without sounding too abstract or over the top; 3. My ability to translate theory to practice; 4. An engaging topic that will be relevant to my future profession.

Perhaps I am overthinking it.

As I prepare for this one on-campus, I think about all the other institutions that I have interviewed with over the course of the past few weeks.  I will need to notify them that I am moving forward in my search.  While I have prepared for that conversation, it seems much more real as the time approaches.